D3 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Attack of the Niños Horrifico!
by wsdsrdbw4096
Summary: This story is a rewrite of The Song of Mystery and sequel to The Man Crab Strikes! Sixth entry of my reboot of SDMI. Please read and review! Formerly shares the same title as the said episode.
1. Babysitting and some pan flute music

**Author's note: And now...the sixth episode of my reboot of SDMI: _The Song of Mystery_ , which like the previous episode will feature a massive rewrite in the storyline. The culprit remains the same as the original episode, but I'm changing the motive.**

 **I don't own _Scooby-Doo_. Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. does.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Babysitting and some pan flute music

 _April 27, 2012_

It has been a week since Mystery Inc. put a stop to the Man Crab's rampage at Crystal Cove beach. Since then, things has been quiet in town, other than the buzz of the upcoming municipal and county elections and countless attack ads on television.

That evening, at a typical suburban home, one nine-year old boy was watching television while his parents were away.

At that moment, the television program was broadcasting an old cartoon from the 1970s about a group of kids and their dog teaming up with a hero and his robotic canine sidekick to capture a caveman criminal.

"Blue Falcon!" One of the main characters shouted from the television.

"And Dog Wonder!" The second main character added.

"Away!" The two main characters shouted as their car took off.

"Oh yeah!" The boy watching television exclaimed excitedly. "Blue Falcon and Dog Wonder away!"

A little while later, the two main characters met up with the group of sleuths and their dog.

"What are you doing around here, Blue Falcon?" The orange ascot-wearing blonde-haired boy asked in the television.

"We're in pursuit of a villainous criminal type known as Lowbrow." The hero replied.

Later, the two vehicles took off to pursue the criminal and at the scene where the dogs were mixed up, the boy started laughing.

"We've got to find out a way to find Lowbrow's trail, Dog Wonder." The hero said.

"Rog Wonder?" A not-so-familiar voice asked.

"Scooby?" The hero asked when he saw the brown-furred Great Dane in the car.

The scene on television then cuts to the two vehicles that has stopped.

"Dog Wonder, you're in the wrong car!" The hero shouted to his sidekick, who was in the kids' van.

"Gosh, no!" The sidekick exclaimed as he leaped to the hero's car.

"Now that's funny!" The boy laughed as he watched the scene.

Eventually, the heroes managed to capture the criminal and were at a turkey dinner. However, the hero's sidekick malfunctioned and flattened the turkey, to the shock of two of the kids and their dog.

"Uh...anyone in for turkey pancake?" The sidekick asked as he holds the flattened turkey.

"Sheez." The hero remarked as the cartoon ends.

 **(Which animated series is being broadcast here? And which particular episode is the boy watching?)**

"Now that's one funny cartoon." The boy remarked as he watched the credits roll. "Mom and Dad sure grew up at a time where cartoons were a whole lot better than the stuff that's on the network nowadays."

Just then, a hand reached in and turned off the television.

Through the moonlight shining from outside, the boy recognized his babysitter.

"Bedtime, Arthur." Daphne said to him as she turned off the television.

* * *

Moments later, Arthur was being tucked into bed as he recounted the cartoon he was watching.

"And it's probably just me, Daphne, but you look exactly like one of those kids I saw on the cartoon show featuring Blue Falcon and Dynomutt." Arthur said after giving Daphne a resume of the cartoon show he was watching.

"Oh really?" Daphne asked. "What's that kid's name?"

"Same as yours." Arthur replied.

"Jeepers!" Daphne remarked. "I guess it's just a coincidence that one of the kids on the show looks like and shares the same name as me."

"I suppose so." Arthur nodded.

Daphne then kissed him good night before leaving the bedroom.

After heading downstairs, she went to read a book in the arm chair as she glanced at her wristwatch.

Shaggy and Scooby are watching a movie at the nearby movie theater, and their movie is supposed to finish in about ten minutes.

Once they finished their movie, they plan on meeting with her outside the house once she's done babysitting and then head home together.

During this time, outside the house at a nearby intersection, a dark shadowed figure looks towards the house before beginning to play the pan flute.

At that moment, up in his bedroom, Arthur was sleeping cozily before the music played by the pan flute through the open window in his bedroom woke him up.

* * *

In that same time, Shaggy and Scooby were walking down the street after finishing their movie.

"Like, that sure was one good movie, eh Scoob?" Shaggy asked as they walked down the street.

"Reah!" Scooby agreed. "Ro bad they ran out of popcorn."

"Well, at least Daph's got some midnight snacks for us when we meet her at the Baywosenthals place once she's finished babysitting." Shaggy said.

"True." Scooby nodded before stopping as his ears picked up something. "Rey Raggy, did you rear something?"

Shaggy stopped and listened. "Like, sounds like pan flute music."

His eyes then caught sight of the dark, shadowed figure at the intersection up ahead.

"Like, and what's that?" He added, gesturing towards the figure.

* * *

In the same time, Daphne was about to flip a page on the book when she heard crashing from Arthur's bedroom.

"Arthur?" She asked as she closed the book and stood up.

Hearing trashing upstairs, she quickly raced up the stairs and bursted into Arthur's bedroom.

It was a mess, and she saw the boy facing the corner of the room.

"Arthur?" She asked as she walked towards him.

Just then, the boy turned and to Daphne's horror, he's been transformed into a zombie!

"Jeepers!" Daphne exclaimed as the zombified boy growled at her before charging towards her.

Without hesitation, the redhead quickly bolted out of the bedroom and raced down the stairs as the zombie chased her.

In the living room, she quickly reached for the front door, only to find the boy blocking her way.

"Arthur! Calm down!" She said. "It's me!"

However, the boy doesn't seem to recognize her and jumped towards her.

Quickly, Daphne moved towards the nearby window and opened it.

* * *

At that moment, Shaggy and Scooby heard noises coming from the Baywosenthals place and turned and looked.

To their surprise, they saw a zombie-like figure chasing Daphne, who managed to climb out of the window and leaped out.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed when the redhead landed in the small front garden and faced him and Scooby. "What happened?"

Daphne quickly gestured towards the zombified Arthur, who hissed at them before closing the window and flipped away.

"Ripe!" Scooby exclaimed.

"Like, that sure was close." Shaggy said as Daphne joined them.

"Yeah." Daphne agreed. "Wonder what was that about?"

Shaggy and Scooby then turned and saw the dark, shadowed figure he and Scooby saw earlier gone with some smoke marking where it was standing at minutes ago.

"Like, was there a creepy-looking guy standing there playing the pan flute when you tucked the boy into bed, Daph?" Shaggy asked as he gestured towards the intersection.

"Not that I know of, although I thought I heard some pan flute music moments before I heard smashing coming from Arthur's bedroom." Daphne replied.

"Maybe that pan flute music was responsible for turning Arthur into that zombie, Daph." Shaggy said.

"Oh no." Daphne sighed. "What am I going to tell his parents?"

* * *

 **Sure wonder what was going on? Stay tuned, and p** **lease read and review!**


	2. A run-in with the sheriff

Chapter 2: A run-in with the sheriff

 _April 28, 2012_

The next morning, Daphne find herself on the wrong side of Mr. Baywosenthal's temper as he questioned her claims on what had happened to Arthur the night before as she and Shaggy and Scooby paid them a visit.

"So let me get this straight, Miss Blake: You left Arthur in his room for his bedtime, heard some pan flute music and then saw him transformed into a monster when you check on him?" Mr. Baywosenthal asked skeptically.

"That's right, Mr. Baywosenthal." Daphne nodded. "I tried to calm him down, but he wouldn't listen, so I ran outside where my two friends were waiting."

"Yeah." Shaggy agreed. "Like, Scoob and I saw Arthur in his monster form when Daph came out."

"Huh." Mr. Baywosenthal snorted as he turned and saw Arthur, still in his zombie-like form, staring outside through the car window. "I highly doubt that this music was responsible for my boy's transformation. He must've watched some crazy monster film or cartoon that kids shouldn't get their eyes on. I can even bet that you let him watch television well past his bedtime, Miss Blake."

"No I didn't, Mr. Baywosenthal, honest!" Daphne defended herself. "All he watched was an old _Dynomutt, Dog Wonder_ cartoon, and I turned off the television right at nine o'clock, Mr. Baywosenthal."

"Besides, Scoob and I were outside your place when we saw Daphne running from Arthur at around quarter after nine, sir." Shaggy added, supporting Daphne's claim that Arthur wasn't watching television past his bedtime.

"Whatever." Mr. Baywosenthal huffed. "I'm taking my boy to see a doctor right now and see if he can figure this out, but until then, Miss Blake, I will not let you babysit Arthur, and I'm sure that the other parents in this neighbourhood will think twice before hiring you to babysit their kids."

He gestured to the other zombified kids in the neighbourhood as he spoke, as well as their parents unsuccessfully trying to control them.

"Good day." He then concluded before making his way to his car, where his wife and son were waiting, started the engine, backed out of the driveway and then drove off.

Watching the car drove off, Daphne sighed.

"I guess my parents aren't going to like this at all." Daphne said. "Especially with the neighbourhood not allowing me to babysit their children."

Shaggy and Scooby both nodded, not sure what to say.

As they walked down the sidewalk, they walked past a newspaper stand, where Shaggy went to pick up the weekend edition of the Crystal Cove Gazette.

"Anything new in the news, Shag?" Daphne asked as her friend started reading the paper.

"Like, just the usual mayoral campaigning and attack ads." Shaggy answered without looking up. "Things sure are getting ugly."

"I'll say." Daphne nodded before leaning in and noticed a side article. "And what's this?"

Shaggy looked towards where Daphne was pointing and saw the title of the article, which read:

"CITY'S DIRECTOR OF FINANCE VANISHES"

"Like, that's interesting." Shaggy said as he scanned the article. "He was last seen passing by the neighbourhood we're currently in, right at the intersections between Lillard Ave. and Griffin Rd."

"Maybe we can check it out, and if we encounter the sheriff, we can say that we happened to be passing by." Daphne suggested.

"Sure. Let's just make sure we don't get another free ride back to police headquarters." Shaggy said.

"Reah. Rat ride ron the rolice wagon can be dizzy." Scooby agreed, remembering their first ride on the police wagon several weeks ago after finishing the Lake Monster case.

* * *

Later, the trio arrived at the intersection, where they saw an abandoned car being sealed off with crime scene tape.

At the scene were several sheriff deputies and investigators, Stone, the mayor, Fred Jr. and Velma.

"Oh, hey guys." Velma waved her hand as her friends joined them.

"Hey Velma, Fred." Shaggy said. "What's going on?"

"Mayor Dad got the news about finance director Bob Rugg's disappearance last night and he came here as soon as the sheriff's informed him that they have located Mr. Rugg's car." Fred Jr. explained.

"Yes." Stone nodded. "Now don't even try to get your hands on this, kids. My men can investigate this without your meddling."

"Besides, son, your civics tutor is coming over at eleven." The mayor added. "Shouldn't you be at home preparing for your private tutorial?"

"But Dad, I'd like to help out in solving this mystery." Fred Jr. said. However, before he could continue, Shaggy noticed something on the car.

"Like, what are those marks, sheriff?" He asked as he pointed at the marks he saw on the engine lid and the car hood and windshield.

The sheriff leaned in to look before replying, "They're just scratch marks from an accident, nothing to worry about. Why?"

"Well, last night, I was babysitting one of the kids in this neighbourhood." Daphne said. "However, after I tucked him to bed, I heard some pan flute music and when I went to check on him, he was zombified!"

"Zombie?" Stone asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Yeah." Shaggy agreed. "You should've seen the boy, sheriff. He looked really creepy and had sharp claws."

"Reah!" Scooby nodded as he proceeded to do a rather humourous imitation of the zombified Arthur.

"Zombie, huh?" Stone remarked skeptically. "First, a ghost haunting your school, then a lake monster, and then a slime mutant, then a gator creature, then a ghost truck and then a man crab. What's going to be next? Frankenstein?"

"And besides, don't you know how much will the sighting of a zombie child will benefit the city's economy?" Fred Sr. added before getting down to his usual lecture on the importance of the city's tourist attractions on its economy.

During the lecture, Shaggy muttered, "Like, here we go again."

His friends all nodded in agreement. Once again, their decision to help out was met with hostility.

"So anyways, get lost before I decide to give you all a lift to police headquarters." Stone said.

"Sure, sure." Fred Jr. sighed. "I was heading home for my civics tutor anyways."

The gang then turned to leave, not wanting to have another showdown with the sheriff.

During this time, Shaggy's mind flashed back to the night before as he took one last look at the scratch marks on the car.

SHAGGY'S FLASH VISION

In the dark shadows of the Baywosenthals' front balcony, Shaggy watched himself and Scooby being shocked to see Daphne running from a zombified Arthur.

As she prepares to leap out of the window and join them outside, he paused his flash vision and took a closer look at Arthur.

Eying the claws on his fingers, Shaggy tapped on the tip and noted how sharp they were.

He then tried to picture a gang of zombified children attacking Mr. Rugg's car and scratching it.

Judging from the scratch marks he saw on the car, he had no trouble picturing the situation as he now watches a gang of zombified children attacking the car as Mr. Rugg looks on in horror while the mysterious dark figure he and Scooby saw the night before look on from the shadows.

END OF FLASH VISION

Once they were out of Stone's earshot, Shaggy said, "Like, those scratch marks came from an accident all right...perhaps they were from Mr. Rugg's encounter with the zombified children in this neighborhood!"

"You may be onto something, Shag." Daphne nodded.

"Yeah, but first, I'll like to get over with my civics tutor." Fred sighed. "Then, we'll try to figure out this mystery."

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 **Please read and review!**


	3. Meeting the tutor

**Author's note: After some thought, I'll be renaming this story's title as _D3 SDMI: Attack of the Niño Horrifico_ , because the title _The Song of Mystery_ doesn't sound right to me.**

 **Speaking of the new title, can anyone who knows Spanish tell me in the reviews how to say "horrific children" in Spanish? I don't want a title that utilizes bad grammar from a language I have no knowledge of. Any suggestions will be appreciated!**

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Chapter 3: Introduced to the tutor and at the library

After the run-in with the sheriff and mayor, the gang arrived at Fred's mansion.

"I hope you didn't add any more traps for your private security system, Fred." Daphne remarked as they reached the front door.

"Yeah." Shaggy agreed. "I don't want to be the test dummy to your traps, Freddie."

"Don't worry, guys." Fred replied confidently as he unlocked the front door. "I've got everything under control."

However, just as he finished, he accidentally elbowed the doorbell, activating the trap Shaggy "tested" out a few weeks earlier.

Before he could duck, his foot got caught in the rope trap and he ended up dangling upside-down as his friends looked on with surprised expressions on their faces.

"Maybe you've got to figure out how to control this one, Fred." Velma remarked. "Or better yet, disable it."

Fred sighed as the others tried to help him out and get him down.

Finding the switch inside the house, Velma walked over and deactivated the trap, releasing Fred and leading him to fall to the ground.

"Remind me to have that trap disabled." Fred said as he got up and rubbed his forehead.

Soon, everyone gathered in the living room as they waited for Fred's civics tutor to show up.

A few minutes went by before the doorbell rang again.

Fred got up and walked to the door and opened it. Standing on the other side was a fairly-young girl with long brown hair tied up in two long pig tails and wearing a yellow dress and a pair of glasses.

"Morning, Fred." The girl smiled. "I'm glad you didn't have that trap at the front door set up."

"Don't worry, Mary." Fred replied with a smile. "I had it deactivated after an accident."

"You don't say." Mary narrowed her eyes as she entered the house, and the others guessed that she must've gotten herself caught in the trap numerous times before.

As the tutor entered the house, Fred lead her to the others as he introduced her.

"Gang, I'll like you all to meet my civics tutor Mary Anne Gleardan." Fred said before turning to his tutor and added, "Mary, I'll like you to meet my friends Shaggy, Scooby, Velma and Daphne."

"Nice meeting you." Velma offered her hand and as they shook, she added. "You seem like you enjoy civics a lot."

"I do." Mary agreed. "Civics is my favourite subject. In fact, I plan on studying law after graduating high school and run in politics."

"Jinkies, that's pretty impressive." Velma smiled.

"Like, hopefully, if you plan on becoming mayor, you do a better job than the current administration." Shaggy added.

"Yeah." Mary sighed. "I really don't like the direction the city is heading. All of our tax dollars are being used to fuel the deep-rooted corruption instead of more urgent matters such as the massive sinkhole that opened up on the County Highway One two weeks ago, which swallowed a tractor-trailer."

 **(See _D3 SDMI: Secret of the Ghost Rig_ for the said sinkhole)**

Shaggy and Scooby shared a glance as Mary mentioned the sinkhole. The former remembered which sinkhole she was talking about. In fact, he was actually responsible for the said sinkhole in an effort to capture a ghost truck two weeks back.

"Anyways." Mary continued. "We'd better get on with your tutorial, Fred. I've an engagement to take care of later this afternoon."

"I guess we'll be seeing you later this afternoon, Freddie." Daphne said as they made their way out of the library.

"Right." Fred nodded as he followed Mary to the living room. "See you guys later."

* * *

After lunch, Shaggy, Scooby, Velma and Daphne decided to hang around in the public library.

As they entered the library, they saw a familiar-looking middle-aged man with white, balding hair and a beard and wearing a blue-green-based suit.

"Like, hey." Shaggy said when he recognized the man. "Isn't that the exchange teacher Luis de Potrillo of the social sciences department?"

"Yeah." Velma nodded. "He seems distressed."

Indeed. The teacher was reading the newspaper on the disappearance of the city's director of finance.

"Uh, Mr. de Potrillo?" Daphne asked as they walked over to the man. "Are you all right?"

"Que Horrifico...he's back!" The man said as the gang joined him.

"Que Horrifico?" Shaggy asked. "Who's he?"

"That's 'How Horrific' in Spanish, Shaggy." Velma said.

"Not just 'how horrific', young lady." Mr. de Potrillo said to her. "He's the name of a monster from Mayan mythology."

"Monster?" Shaggy and Scooby exclaimed in the same time.

"That's right." Mr. de Potrillo nodded. "According to legend, the monster was originally a man that was cursed to transform into a monster at night after he committed a grave sin that angered the lords. To make matters worse, in his monster form, whenever he plays a pan flute during the night, the music can transform young children into monsters like him!"

"Jeepers!" Daphne remarked. "Are you saying that last night's disappearance is the handiwork of Que Horrifico?"

"Yes." The teacher nodded. "There's no other monster that is capable of turning innocent children into monsters with pan flute music!"

Shaggy and Scooby turned to Daphne. "Like, that means the figure Scoob and I saw last night near the Baywosenthal's residence is Que Horrifico!"

* * *

That night, in another suburban neighbourhood located in the outskirts of the city, that same shadowed figure with red, glowing eyes emerged from a dark lane.

Standing under a lamp post with nobody around, the figure took out its pan flute and started playing.

The children sleeping in the nearby houses woke up from the pan flute music and subsequently transformed into frightening monsters, much like Arthur's transformation the night before.

There were some screams in the neighbourhood as the zombified children started their rampage in the neighbourhood.

* * *

 **Uh oh. What will happen next? Stay tuned, and please read and review!**


	4. Another disappearance

**Author's note: To the guest that made the review on how to say "horrific children" in Spanish, I'll like to thank you for the feedback.**

 **Another thing to note is that I've made changes to the title of the previous installment of the reboot: _D3 SDMI: Revenge of the Man Crab_ has been changed to _D3 SDMI: The Man Crab Strikes!_ , mainly because that prior to the events of the said episode, the gang never encountered the Man Crab, so how is it that the villain is seeking revenge against the gang? That question was brought up to me by my friend Ellis97, who also suggested the new title for the said story.**

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Chapter 4: Another disappearance

 _April 29, 2012_

The next day, the newspaper had the following headline:

"CITY'S AUDITOR GENERAL MISSING

Auditor General George Spocks last seen outside his house on Gatorsburg Drive"

That morning, Colton Rogers was seated at the dining table reading the paper and finishing his breakfast and coffee as usual.

"Something bothering you, Dad?" Shaggy asked his father as he ate his breakfast.

"Nah, just those disappearances of top City Hall officials lately." Colton replied. "But don't even get any ideas on continuing on with your hobby, Norville."

"That's right, dear." Paula agreed. "Your father and I don't want to pay for you and Scooby's bails again."

"Don't worry, Mom." Shaggy said. "Scoob and I will avoid getting into trouble with the sheriff."

"That's not our point, son." Colton said. "How many times do you and your friends have to get locked up before the sheriff decides to throw the book at you for breaking the law?"

"By allowing criminals to continue to break the law while dressed up as some random spook, Dad?" Shaggy asked. "I don't think we'll stand by and allow that to happen. That's the sheriff's job, not ours, and yet that meathead is worse than useless."

"Now let's not get into that, Norville." Paula said. "And besides, if I remember correctly, you've got a major test coming up tomorrow. You and Scooby should do some studying."

"We are going to, Mom." Shaggy said as he finished his cereal. "In fact, we're meeting with Daph at the library to do some studying."

He and Scooby then moved quick and placed their dining instruments in the sink and raced off to their room before their parents could question them on their continuing to hangout with Daphne.

* * *

A short time later, the duo met up with Daphne at the public library entrance.

"I'm going to guess your parents gave you guys an earful." Daphne said when the duo arrived late.

"You rot rat right." Scooby nodded.

"Like, it's a good thing we told our parents that we're going studying here in the library after they mentioned this major test tomorrow." Shaggy added.

Daphne nodded as they entered the library.

As they walked into the library, they saw Mr. de Portillo holding what appeared to be a pan flute.

"Like, is that a pan flute?" He asked the exchange teacher as they approached him.

Looking up, he recognized the students that went over to him to ask questions related to the monster.

"Why yes it is." The teacher nodded. "In fact, it's the very pan flute that Que Horrifico uses to turn children into monsters."

"Jeepers." Daphne remarked.

"And in case you guys didn't realize, another City Hall official has vanished last night." Mr. de Portillo added. "All because of Que Horrifico."

"Like, I read about it in the newspaper." Shaggy said.

Before he could continue, a familiar-female voice said, "Hi, Mr. de Portillo!"

Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne turned. It was Fred's civics tutor Mary Gleardan, who was holding a textbook as she approached them.

"Miss Gleardan!" The teacher exclaimed as he stood up from his seat. "What a surprise!"

"You know her, Mr. de Portillo?" Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." The teacher nodded. "Miss Gleardan is in my mythology course and is one of the best in the class."

Turning to Mary, Mr. de Portillo then added, "What brings you here, Miss Gleardan?"

"I have a question related to the Mayan mythology chapter on Friday's class, which I didn't get a chance to ask you." Mary replied, only to accidentally drop a book she was holding.

Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne caught a glimpse of the book title as Mary managed to scoop it back up. A book on hypnotism.

As Mary went on to ask her question, Scooby suggested, "Ret's go and study."

"Good idea, Scoob." Shaggy nodded as they headed further into the library.

* * *

A short while later, the trio finished their studying and had their lunch, where they met up with Fred and Velma.

"How was your studying, guys?" Velma asked in her way of greeting.

"It was alright." Daphne replied. "On our way in the library, we saw Mr. de Portillo and Fred's tutor, who went to ask him some questions."

"Mary's in Mr. de Portillo's class?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Shaggy nodded. "Mythology class and Mr. de Portillo considers her one of the top students in his class."

"And just before she went to ask Mr. de Portillo some questions, she dropped a book by accident." Daphne added. "It's a book on hypnotism."

Fred and Velma nodded thoughtfully before the latter said, "Say, did you guys read the news about the disappearance of George Spocks, the city's auditor general, last night?"

"Yeah." Daphne nodded. "It was in the morning paper."

"First Bob Rugg, the director of finance, and then George Spocks the auditor general." Fred said. "Dad's got his hands full."

"One thing that puzzle's me is why will someone wish those two men harm?" Velma questioned. "Perhaps there's someone that those two men have crossed before and is now seeking revenge."

"Maybe we should do some background on Mr. Rugg and Mr. Spocks' background." Daphne suggested. "See if there was someone in the past who will wish them harm now."

"Great idea, Daphne." Velma nodded. "I just happened to have brought my laptop with me."

* * *

Soon, in the rear of the Mystery Machine, the gang gathered around Velma as she did her research.

"Here it is, gang." Velma announced. "From my research, Bob Rugg and George Spocks have both been serving in the city council for twenty years. During this time, the two and another city councilor named Richard Kenny were suspected of taking part in a money laundering ring seventeen years ago but were never charged due to lack of evidence. That is, until a young reporter named Gordon Gleardan uncovered damaging evidence that will sure damage their political careers. However, when time came for the reporter to make the exposure, he got set up to take the fall for a fraud ring. It was suspected that the three city councilors arranged for the ploy to save their hides."

"That's disgraceful!" Fred said in surprise.

"Indeed, and disgusting!" Velma agreed.

"And in the words of Principal Shore, despicable!" Daphne added.

"Like, wait a minute..." Shaggy thought of something. "Gordon Gleardan. Is he related to Mary Gleardan in any way?"

Velma did some typing before replying, "His biography mentioned a daughter who's around the same age as her."

"And I've got a hunch where those zombified children and Que Horiffico will strike next, gang." Fred thought for a while before adding, "Velma, search Mr. Kenny's address."

"Already done." Velma nodded as she showed the gang the address.

"Right then." Fred said. "This calls for a plan!"

* * *

 **Wonder what does Fred have in mind? Stay tuned, and please read and review!**


	5. The trap and the capture

**Author's note: There's been a slight update to the fourth chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 5: The trap and captured

Later that evening, the gang were at the vacant house across the street from the house where Councilman Kenny lives.

"Like, you sure about this, Fred?" Shaggy asked as he and Scooby set up a couple of puppets in the living room. "I mean, will Que Horrifico show up?"

"Trust me, Shaggy." Fred replied as he and the girls set up the trap. "He'll show up and when he does, he'll try to turn you guys into zombies."

"And when he does, we'll have the trap set up to capture him before he could use his pan flute to turn you guys into zombies." Velma added.

"I don't know." Shaggy shrugged. "Sounds easier said than done."

"Reah." Scooby nodded in agreement, still sharing Shaggy's doubts on whether the plan may work.

"Don't worry, guys." Fred said confidently. "The monster won't be able to resist the temptation to use its pan flute to turn your puppet children into zombies when it sees you, not to mention that you look like you live across the street from his next target, which will make it convenient for him to get more zombies to get to its target."

At that point, Daphne went to him and said, "Fred, the trap's all set."

"Great." Fred rubbed his hands with a nod. "Now let's get changed."

* * *

A short while later, that same dark shadowed figure approached the house.

Hiding from a bush located across the lawn from the window showing the living room of the house, the figure looked into the house.

In the living room, the head of the household, in the form of Fred disguised as a father, was seated on the armchair reading the evening newspaper, while the mother, Daphne in disguise, was doing some cleaning in the living room.

The figure looked around and saw an elderly lady, who is Velma in disguise, seated on a rocking chair and doing some knitting.

It continued to look around before spotting two children, one of them seated on the floor playing with blocks and the other watching television. However, the figure didn't notice the narrow strings attached to the head, arms, hands, legs and feet of the children.

Before the figure could make its move, the father put down the newspaper while the mother reaches for the remote control to turn off the television.

"Okay, Casey and Don." The mother turned to the two children after shutting off the television. "Time to go to bed."

"Awww, Mom." The older boy whined. "But I want to stay up to watch the _Super Friends_ marathon tonight!"

"Sorry, Casey." His father said as he got up from the armchair. "Your mother's right. You can't stay up too late, as you have school tomorrow."

Casey didn't say another word, but he nodded as his parents accompanied him and his younger brother up the stairs to their bed.

"Before you go to bed, kids, say 'Goodnight' to Granny Nicole." The father said.

"Oh, yeah." Don nodded as he and his brother went to their grandmother, who paused her knitting and smiled as her grandchildren went to her.

"Goodnight, Granny." The boys said.

"Goodnight, my precious grandsons!" The elderly lady smiled as she kissed her grandsons goodnight.

After the goodnight, the two boys went to join their parents, who escorted them up the stairs. The figure watching the going-on in the living room then left its hiding place as it makes its way to the nearest street lamp.

As the "parents" and the two "boys" arrived at the top of the stairs, Fred went to Shaggy and Scooby, both of whom are holding puppet control sticks, which revealed the two boys Don and Casey to be puppets controlled by them.

"Great job, guys." He said. "Especially you, Shag. I'm really amazed that you could throw your voice and make it sound like Casey is actually speaking."

"Like, it was my ventriloquism that did the trick, Fred." Shaggy replied. "Plus, I had volunteered at a puppet theater during the summer."

"Anyways, I suppose our friend must be preparing to turn the children into zombies right now." Velma added as she made her way up the stairs.

"Which brings us to our trap." Fred smiled as they made their way to the children's bedroom, where Fred and the girls had set up the trap earlier.

A short while later, the figure reached the street lamp and took out what appeared to be a pan flute. Unbeknownst to it, a series of mechanisms were connected to a hidden net set up in the nearby bush, nor did the figure realized that the gang was secretly watching it from the house.

Fred and the girls held onto the rope attached to the net in question with the girls looking on, while Shaggy, looking through a pair of binoculars, was observing the figure under the streetlamp. A figure he recognized as the one he and Scooby caught sight of a couple of nights ago outside the Baywosenthals' house.

Seeing the figure taking out the pan flute, Shaggy turned to Fred.

"Like, Que Horrifico is taking out the pan flute, Freddie." Shaggy reported.

"Now!" Fred barked, and Daphne and Velma yanked the rope, which released the net.

The figure, caught off guard by the net's sudden appearance, wasn't able to duck or use its pan flute in time and it ended up tangled up as it was caught by the net.

"Yes!" Fred pumped his arm in a victory gesture before the gang raced out of the house to take a closer look at the captured figure.

The figure struggled to get up as the gang arrived.

"Now let's take a closer look and see who this..." Fred was about to lean down when the figure suddenly managed to get up, holding its pan flute.

To the gang's shock and horror, the figure started playing the pan flute and within seconds, a mob of zombified children were approaching them.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as they back away from the captured figure and the children, who proceeded to free their leader.

After being freed, the monster then turned towards the gang and hissed, "Get them!"

The zombies complied and charged towards the gang, who retreated back into the house.

"Got a better plan, Freddie?" Velma asked as they retreated back to the house.

Fred shook his head, and they soon made it back to the house.

As soon as they entered the house, they slammed the door shut, but with a mob of zombies charging towards the door, it was difficult for them to keep the door shut as the zombies tries to charge into the house.

It was difficult for them to keep the door shut, as the zombified children kept rushing towards the door and push it open.

As they tried to hold off the zombies, Daphne turned towards the nearest room facing the street and saw a handful of zombies entering from the opened window.

"Jeepers!" She exclaimed. "They're coming in from the window!"

"Let's head for the second floor!" Velma suggested.

The boys all agreed and they abandoned the door and raced for the stairs, while more zombified children rushed into the house and moved for the stairs to get the gang.

Rushing up the stairs, the gang find themselves getting mobbed by more zombified children, who chased them around the house.

Eventually, after some running around, the zombified children cornered the gang in the living room.

As the gang backed away from the zombified children, not sure what to do, Velma accidentally stepped on the television remote, causing the television to be turned on.

As it turned out, the channel was broadcasting an episode of _Superman: The Animated Series_ , right at the scene where a band of terrorists have hijacked Air Force One, with the leader forcing members of the press to buckle up after catching an attractive reporter trying to call for help and strapped her in.

"A tragic example, I'm afraid." The terrorist leader then said to the reporter before adding, "Miss..."

"Lane." The reporter replied calmly.

Recognizing the name, the terrorist leader exclaimed. "Lane? Lois Lane? The one Superman always saves?"

"I'm afraid so." The reporter replied just as the Boeing 747 begins to tilt severely, catching the terrorists off guard and off balance.

As the leader crashes into the wall, he looked out the window and saw, to his horror, that the Man of Steel was on the wing, having had just messed with the aileron, which caused the aircraft to tilt severely.

"Oh, look!" One of the zombified children exclaimed when he saw the television. "It's Superman!"

"Look at him fighting those bad guys!" Another exclaimed as they dropped what they were doing and sat in front of the television, much to the amazement of the gang, right at the part where the Man of Steel bursts into the Boeing 747, with the cabin pressure dropping causing the terrorists to fly towards the door he had opened.

The leader flew towards the Man of Steel, who calmly greets him with a fist punch, which was immediately cut to the scene where the Boeing 747 was shown to have landed safely in an airfield outside a major city.

 **(Which episode of _Superman: TAS_ are the kids watching?)**

"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed as they saw the zombified children taking off their costumes and watching television. "They're all children!"

"They must've been hypnotized by Que Horrifico!" Shaggy said just as the villain bursted into the house.

"No, no no!" Que Horrifico shouted. "What are you kids doing? You've ruined everything!"

However, the children ignored the monster as they continued watching television, right at the scene where the limo was driving terribly through the streets of the city.

The gang seized the moment and rushed to the villain as Fred said, "You're finished, Que Horrifico!"

"No!" Que Horrifico exclaimed. "You're not going to get me!"

The villain then took off for the door as the gang gave chase.

Que Horrifico continued on running, but as it reached the main sidewalk, it stepped onto a skateboard, causing it to end up skating down the sidewalk towards a trash can.

The gang stopped and shut their eyes just as Que Horrifico crashed into a trash can, where it flipped and ended up upside down in the empty trash can.

As the villain struggled to get out, the gang turned to each other and high-fived.

"We did it, gang." Fred said. "We finally got it!"

Their celebration was cut short when a male voice across the street shouted, "Who's making all this racket?"

The gang turned and saw a man they instantly recognized as Councilman Richard Kenny as he made his way across the street, visibly annoyed.

"What in heaven's name is going on?" He barked at the gang.

"Ah, Councilman Kenny!" Fred smiled. "You're going to need to get the sheriff. We just made an important capture."

"Oh yeah?" Kenny said. "Well, he should get you kids in handcuffs for disturbing my peace and quiet!"

"This is actually related to those disappearance of top City Hall officials lately, Councilman." Velma said, ignoring the councilman's remark. "I'm sure you'll want to find out what happened to Councilmen Bob Rung and George Spocks."

* * *

A short while later, the sheriff arrived and as the gang predicted, he was in his usual cranky mood whenever he sees them. Also there was Mr. de Portillo.

"So you kids solved another mystery and ruined another tourist attraction, huh?" Stone asked once the gang explained what had happened while deputies handcuffed Que Horrifico.

"Pretty much, Sheriff." Shaggy replied. "Like, I'm sure you'll want to know who Que Horrifico really is."

"You mean, he's not real?" Mr. de Portillo asked.

"That's right, Mr. de Portillo." Fred nodded as he and Daphne prepare to unmask the captured villain. "He's really..."

The duo then pulled off the mask, revealing a familiar-looking face as he continued, "Mary Gleardan, my civics tutor."

* * *

 **All will be revealed in the next chapter. Stay tuned, and please read and reveal!**


	6. Explanations and the discovery

Chapter 6: Explanations and the discovery

"Just as we suspected!" Velma exclaimed as Mary was handcuffed by the deputies.

"Now, what the devil is going on here?" Stone asked. "You telling me that our friend here isn't a tourist attraction?"

"Of course not, sheriff." Fred Jr. replied. "My civics tutor disguised herself as Que Horrifico to seek revenge."

"On who?" Mr. de Portillo asked.

"On Councilmans Bob Rugg, George Spocks and Rick Kenny for sending her father, the investigative journalist Gordon Gleardan, to prison for fraud." Daphne stated. "A fraud ring that was a set up devised by those three councilmen to save their hides once Mr. Gleardan uncovered evidence of their involvement in a money laundering operation."

"Money laundering?" Stone asked before turning to Councilman Kenny and added, "Is that true, Councilman?"

"What do you think, Sheriff?" Kenny asked, obviously denying his involvement. "That meddling reporter should've minded his own business and keep his nose out of where he shouldn't have stick them."

"By setting up a ruse to lure my father into a trap and set him up to take the fall for a crime he didn't commit?" Mary blurted out. "What kind of a councilman are you if you don't respect the law?"

"Young lady, sometimes in politics, you've got to cross a line." Kenny stated. "When you have to get things done and acquire support from your sponsors, you'll have to return the favour or risk losing support of your key sponsors."

"Well, no wonder I always considered politics, particularly City Hall, as a nut house." Shaggy remarked with his arms folded.

"Anyways, how did you kids know it was Mary that was behind the disguise?" Mr. de Portillo asked.

"First off, we know that it's got to be her when we saw her approaching you in the library to ask a question, and you mentioned that she's a top student in your Mayan mythology class." Daphne said.

"That's the only way she could've learned about the monster and use it as her disguise." Fred stated.

"Also, during that encounter at the library, Scoob, Daph and I saw her dropping a book she was holding." Shaggy added. "It was a book on hypnotism, which no doubt has a section on how to hypnotize others with musical instruments, which also explains the pan flute she used in her disguise and how she was able to hypnotize those children into adopting those spooky disguises."

"But our biggest clue was when we researched some background info on the two missing councilmen." Velma continued. "We saw that an investigative journalist, who shared Mary's surname and has a daughter that is in Mary's age group, ran afoul of them when he investigated their involvement in a money-laundering operation. He was subsequently sentenced to prison when he got caught up in a fraud ring, although his family insisted that he was set up in retaliation for gaining condemning evidence against those two missing councilmen and Councilman Kenny."

"It was that last clue that led us to figure out that only Mary could've pulled the stunt." Fred Jr. concluded.

"Yes." Mary nodded. "I almost had my revenge and justice for my father, but you meddling schoolmates ruined everything!"

"Well, too bad you can't do anything to get even with me, young lady." Kenny boasted. "You'll never find anything that will tie me to the racket."

As Kenny was speaking, Scooby happened to sniff his hand before started growling.

"Hey, what are you sniffing at, you mutt?" Kenny asked when he turned and saw the Great Dane growling at him.

"Ri smell roil." Scooby growled. "Rounterfeit vegetable roil!"

"Counterfeit vegetable oil?" The others gasped in surprise and Shaggy instantly paused as his mind flashed to some place.

SHAGGY'S FLASH VISION

As Shaggy watched himself and the gang leaning over to read the information Velma found after doing some research on her laptop, he paused the scene and walked over to Velma.

Taking the laptop, he then did some typing and scrolled through the information related to money laundering operation.

Looking through the information, he found that the money laundering operation was tied to a food safety scandal, in which a massive recall in vegetable oil took place in the county after tons of counterfeit vegetable oil was found to have slipped through the food safety inspection committee - a committee that Kenny was chair around the time Gordon started his investigation into the three councilmen's involvement in a money laundering racket.

The counterfeit oil was found to cause severe poisoning and a committee member was forced to resign as a result of the scandal, although Shaggy believed that the man was thrown under the bus by Councilman Kenny.

As he continued looking through the information, he discovered that the company producing the counterfeit vegetable oil had paid Kenny in bribes to have their vegetable oil approved.

A company named Destroido Corp.

In return for the bribes, the county awarded Destroido Corp. a farming contract that was supposed to provide jobs for thousands of unemployed farmers in the county.

Shaggy then did another search, this time on Kenny, and he discovered that Destroido has been banned from doing business in several countries for its poor environmental record and lax safety and quality standards, in addition to Kenny working at the company prior to entering politics.

"Now that's a clear conflict of interest." Shaggy thought to himself as he returned to the page Velma found and returned the laptop to her before stepping out and resumed playing his flash vision.

END OF FLASH VISION

"Like, the counterfeit vegetable oil is produced by Destroido Corp." Shaggy quickly said. "Councilman Kenny worked for them prior to entering politics, then after getting elected, he was the chair of a food inspection board that approved the counterfeit vegetable oil whom Kenny approved of its development when he was still working for Destroido."

"That's insane!" Kenny roared. "You know that I'll never approve anything that will be hazardous to ones health."

Just then, Scooby sniffed the air and sniffed out a trail and raced towards Kenny's house.

"Hey, come back here, you mutt!" Kenny shouted when he saw Scooby racing towards his house. "That's my house and my property!"

But the Great Dane ignored him, and Kenny was forced to chase him.

Seeing Kenny chasing Scooby into his house, the others looked at each other and raced after them.

"I think Scooby made an important discovery." Daphne said as they followed the councilman and Scooby.

Soon, they found Scooby in the basement of Kenny's house, with the Great Dane founding a secret compartment on the floor.

"Don't even think of opening that, you mutt!" Kenny warned Scooby.

Scooby ignored him as he opened the compartment, revealing a pile of documents and small tanks of what appeared to be oil.

Everyone gasped when Scooby made the discovery as he handed the sheriff the documents.

"Sheriff, do you suppose..." Fred said to the sheriff as he examined the documents.

Stone was silent for a minute before turning to Kenny and said, "Mr. Kenny, you've got some serious explaining to do. I strongly advise that you contact your lawyer immediately if you want to emerge from this unscratched."

"Sheriff, what about Mary Gleardan?" Velma asked. "Is she still under arrest?"

Stone thought for a while before saying, "She's highly likely to serve probation, given her age and motives, although I'll like to hold her in a cell for causing us to waste all of those Que Horrifico merchandises."

The gang rolled their eyes at his last comment but didn't say a word.

* * *

 _April 30, 2012_

The next day, the Crystal Cove Times had the following headline:

"COUNCILMEN BUSTED BY MEDDLING KIDS

Councilman Richard Kenny and the two missing councilmen forced to resign from their committee posts as they come under fire for their involvement in the Destroido Vegetable Oil Scandal"

The gang were satisfied when they learned that Mary's father was released from prison following a public outcry, although they were disappointed that the three councilmen aren't even in police custody and have lawyered up to fight the charges facing them.

"Sometimes, there's no justice in the world, gang." Fred sighed as he read the paper with the gang at their school lockers.

"How's your father taking the developments, Freddie?" Daphne asked as Shaggy and Scooby took a sip of water from their water bottles.

"Well, he's fed up about the fact that he needs to find me a new civics tutor, as well as his three best councilmen being forced to resign from their committee posts." Fred replied.

"Not surprised." Shaggy remarked as he leaned against his locker. "I definitely wonder how does a guy like him get elected in the first place."

Everyone else shrugged as the scene moves over to a nearby school poster advertising the upcoming school dance.

* * *

 **The adventure continues in _D3 SDMI: The Legend of Alice May_.**

 **Stay tuned, and please read and review!**


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